30 

Use of the Library.—As stated in the report of the librarian, 
the library is not, and cannot very well be, a circulating library. 
Its greatest usefulness, all things considered, depends upon its 
being administered as a reference library. It is a pleasure to 
note that it is being consulted in increasing numbers by others 
than members of the Garden staff. 
Herbarium 
Administration.—As is frequently done in herbarium adminis- 
tration, curatorial duties have been divided, and the spermato- 
phytes (seed-bearing plants) and pteridophytes (ferns and fern- 
allies) have been assigned to the curator of plants, with whose 
other duties and interests this part of the herbarium is most 
closely related; and, for a like reason, the lower cryptogams 
(mosses, liverworts, lichens, fungi, algae, and slime-moulds) 
have been assigned to the curator of public instruction. For con- 
venience, these two sections will hereafter be referred to as the 
phanerogamic and the cryptogamic herbaria respectively. 
Growth—During the past year the phanerogamic herbarium 
has been increased by over 47,000 specimens, in addition to the 
herbarium of the Department of Botany, comprising about 30,- 
ooo specimens, which was transferred to the Garden, in accord- 
ance with the resolution of the Executive Committee of the 
Trustees, as recorded above on page 34. The total number of 
specimens in this section of the herbarium is now nearly 80,000, 
which represents a growth of nearly 50,000 during the three 
years since the Garden was established. 
The cryptogamic division of the herbarium of the Department 
of Botany, when transferred to the Garden, contained a total of 
8,750 specimens, as itemized in the appended report of the curator 
of public instruction, page 61. Previous to this transfer we had 
acquired about 2,200 specimens, chiefly of parasitic fungi, but 
during the past year this collection has been increased, largely by 
generous gifts, to 24,492 specimens, or nearly three times the 
total acquisitions previous to the establishment of the Garden. 
The total number of specimens in both herbaria on December 
31 was over 104,000. ‘ 
New Cases —The cumbersome wooden cases which held the 
